Premier League

A FORMER Manchester United defender has revealed how a fight on a bus led to his biggest telling of from Sir Alex Ferguson and a pay rise.Wes Brown spent 14 years at the Old Trafford club making 362 appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side having broken into the team as an 18 year old.
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson overseeing a training session.Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Sir Alex Ferguson overseeing a training session at Manchester United’s Carrington base.Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
The defender played a key part in the treble success of 1999 covering at full back and centre back throughout that season.
Spending well over a decade at United Brown witnessed and received the famous hair dryer treatment from Ferguson many times.
Speaking to the Football Social Daily podcast Brown revealed the biggest bust up he had with the iconic Scotsman.
He said: “I turned pro at 17 and started playing at 18, and in that time I still hadn’t signed another contract, so I was probably on about £250 a week.”
Brown added: “And then I had a fight on a bus going home because I got the bus everywhere, the 192 into Piccadilly.”
“Something happened on the bus and my manager (Ferguson) found out and he said to me ‘what the f*** are you doing on the bus?’
“I said, ‘I’ve always got the bus, boss’ and he’s shouting at me for getting a bus and telling me to get a taxi.”
The former defender concluded: “I explained to him that I couldn’t afford a taxi because that would be £14 a day, £7 from my house to Salford.
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“Still living with my mum and I need to give her some money and buying snide Ralph Laurens to go out.
“He stopped shouting at me after that. And he was like ‘yeah, well we’ll sort that out’.
Wes Brown won 23 England capsCredit: PA
“And that’s pretty much how that went. So the actual incident got forgotten about so I was happy about that.”
Brown had a glittering career at Old Trafford winning an array of titles including five Premier Leagues and three FA Cups.
The 43-year-old is also part of small group of United players who have won the Champions League twice having lifted the famous trophy in 1999 and 2008. More

HARRY REDKNAPP is set to seal a sensational retirement U-turn – after offering to return to manage Leeds.The former Tottenham manager retired from football management in 2017.
Harry Redknapp in action managing for Soccer AidCredit: Getty
However, the Mirror report the 75-year-old is now set to make a remarkable comeback to management as managerless Leeds desperately search for a new boss.
Redknapp has a plethora of experience at Premier League level, having overseen 642 Prem matches with West Ham, Portsmouth, QPR and Spurs among his previous job titles.
The Whites have been without a manager since sacking Jesse Marsch.
A 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in late February was the final straw for the American, with Leeds having won just four games all season.
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The games since his sacking have seen the team led by a trio of coaches.
Academy coach Michael Skubala, supported by Chris Armas and Paco Gallardo, has been given the reins for the next two clashes against Everton and Southampton.
The previous two games they have taken charge of saw them draw and lose in a double-header to Manchester United.
Leeds have been rejected by a number of managers already.
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These include West Brom coach Carlos Corberan, Feyenoord’s Arne Slot and Rayo Vallecano boss Andoni Iraola.
Redknapp’s last job football came with Birmingham City in 2017.
Since then he was voted King of the Jungle on “I’m a celebrity Get Me Out Of Here” and managed England for Soccer Aid.
The report of Redknapp’s return comes shortly after Neil Warnock returned to management for a second stint with Huddersfield.
It came just 10 months after he had announced his retirement. More

RAFAEL VAN DER VAART has raved about a surprising Manchester United star.The former Real Madrid and Spurs ace played with some of the best players of his generation.
Rafael Van der Vaart picked out one Manchester United player for praiseCredit: PA:Press Association
He was part of the Netherlands squad which reached the 2010 World Cup final, led by their talisman Wesley Sneijder.
Van der Vaart, 40, holds the Dutchman in great esteem having also played with him at the Bernabeu.
He praised Sneijder’s ability to hit a ball sweetly with both feet but believes one player rivals him in that area.
Van der Vaart played with the midfielder in question during his spell at Tottenham between 2010-2012.
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Tom Huddlestone is the player Van der Vaart named as the best striker of a ball he has ever seen.
Speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes: Fanzone, he said: “It was a real privilege to play in front of him.
“I never saw a guy – other than maybe Wesley Sneijder – who could strike the ball with both feet, so sweetly, that you couldn’t see a difference; you couldn’t tell which was his stronger foot.”
Huddlestone joined United last summer as a player-coach, allowing him to feature for the Under-21s side.
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Tom Huddlestone has featured for United Under-21s this seasonCredit: Rex
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He even produced a brilliant assist in the Papa John’s Trophy to help his side equalise late on against Fleetwood.
Huddlestone also produced a fine assist for Alejandro Garnacho’s goal against Barrow in the same competition, sparking calls for the midfielder to be called up to the first team. More

ARSENAL’s Premier League title chances have been slashed to just 34 PER CENT after losing to rivals Manchester City.The Gunners fell to a 3-1 home defeat on Wednesday, losing top spot in the Prem by goal difference.
Manchester City are tipped to win the Prem for the third season in a rowCredit: AFP
Arsenal’s title chances have been slashed to 34 per centCredit: Getty
Kevin de Bruyne’s opener was cancelled out by a Bukayo Saka penalty.
But the Sky Blues were ruthless in the second half, grabbing two more goals through Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland.
They do, however, still have a game in hand over the defending champions.
Nonetheless, Arsenal’s Prem title chances have been slashed to just 34 per cent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s supercomputer.
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Man City’s hopes of retaining the trophy for the third time in a row are rated at 62 per cent.
Arsenal are predicted to finish two points off City, with the end-of-season prediction having the Gunners on 81 points.

Manchester United have also had their title chances boosted – albeit small.
The Red Devils have a TWO per cent chance, and are predicted to finish 11 points off top spot.
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FiveThirtyEight’s predicted Premier League table at the end of the season
Newly mega-rich Newcastle are tipped to clinch the fourth and final Champions League spot, followed by Brighton in fifth, Tottenham in sixth and Liverpool in seventh.
The Seagulls are predicted to edge out Spurs to fifth on goal difference.
Chelsea’s squad – worth close to £1billion – are expected to take eighth and level on points with ninth-placed Brentford.
The Blues also have a five per cent chance of securing Champions League football for next season via the league.
Lower down the table, Everton, Bournemouth and Southampton won’t beat the drop, the supercomputer predicts.
All three have over a 50 per cent chance of getting relegated, with Southampton commanding the highest percentage at 77.
Arsenal’s next five games More

THE FA are to investigate Kevin De Bruyne being pelted with bottles during Manchester City’s win at Arsenal last night. The playmaker scored the opening goal and pulled the strings last night as Pep Guardiola’s side landed a huge blow on their title rivals.
Kevin De Bruyne faced having objects being thrown at him as he departed the pitch last nightCredit: Getty
But as De Bruyne left the pitch after being subbed off late in the game, the star had multiple objects hurled at him by the home fans.
The 31-year-old laughed and winked at supporters as he dodged the items.
He left the pitch with only minutes to go as Kalvin Phillips came on in his place.
The midfielder’s positioning meant he had to exit the pitch by taking the longer route behind the goals, exposing him to fan fury.
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De Bruyne later poked fun at Arsenal fans on Instagram as he wrote “beer anyone?”
The FA, the governing body of professional football in England, have announced they will investigate the incident.

The incident was included in the referee Anthony Taylor’s match report.
It was the latest incident in a busy night for De Bruyne who was among City’s best performers during the top-of-the-table clash.
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The Belgian opened the scoring after 24 minutes as he latched onto Takehiro Tomiyasu’s loose ball and lobbed the charging Aaron Ramsdale.
He then found himself caught in a brief touchline scuffle with the Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta when the ball went out of play.
Goals by Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland sealed the win for City after Bukayo Saka levelled from the spot after a controversial penalty. More

NO PARTEY means no Emirates party.But if Arsenal are unable to get themselves over the finishing line, it won’t be down to the absence of Thomas Partey.
Jorginho adds a calming influence and plenty of experience into the Arsenal teamCredit: Getty
Mikel Arteta was forced to change his starting line-up for the first time since Boxing Day in the Premier League when Partey pulled up injured ahead of his team’s biggest game of the season.
And now they have it all to do in the title race after suffering an 11th straight League defeat at the hands of Pep Guardiola’s remorseless champions.
But if anyone is going to steady the ship it is serial winner Jorginho, the wise old head drafted in from Chelsea on transfer deadline day for just this kind of situation.
The 31-year-old Italian international was probably Arsenal’s most impressive performer on a disappointing night of self-inflicted misery.
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And the man with winner’s medals from the Euros, Champions League and Europa League will be just the calming influence Arsenal are going to need in the coming weeks.
For this bruising defeat means Arsenal have surrendered their place at the top of the table for the first time since August 20.
Now they will need all of Jorginho’s experience to steady the  nerves of his anxious young team-mates and convince them that all is not lost.
It was back in 2018 that Guardiola thought he was going to sign Jorginho for Manchester City and the player was more than happy to move to the Etihad at that time.
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But then Chelsea appointed Maurizio Sarri as their new manager and he insisted on bringing Jorginho with him from Napoli as part of the deal.
Two years later it was Arteta who was trying to make the Italian international his first signing for Arsenal.
But once again Chelsea scuppered those plans by insisting that the player was not for sale.
So when he finally came on the market at the end of last month’s transfer window, Arteta didn’t hesitate to make his move.

Two mammoth bids for Moises Caicedo had already been knocked back by Brighton and with Mo Elneny ruled out for the season by a knee operation, Arsenal desperately needed extra cover in central midfield.
It wasn’t a deal that was greeted with universal enthusiasm by the Arsenal online community, who still remembered how Willian and David Luiz had stunk the Emirates out in the past and were wary of signing another Chelsea cast-off at the fag end of his career.
But it was a good job for all concerned that he was welcomed on board because within days of his arrival, Partey was starting to feel the effects of playing almost every week and running out of steam.
The Ghanaian powerhouse has arguably been Arsenal’s most influential player this season with the protection he gives to the back four giving others the platform to pile forward with the handbrake off.
So when it emerged that he was going to miss last night’s game with a muscular problem, Gunners fans were entitled to fear the worst.
Jorginho made his full Arsenal debut in the defeat to Manchester CityCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
He was constantly giving instructions and guidance to his new team-matesCredit: Getty
After all, his replacement certainly doesn’t have Partey’s physical presence and he’s never been the quickest player in the world.
But what Jorginho does bring is an attention to detail as well as that Italian cussedness to keep cutting down the angles in the middle of the pitch.
This might have been his first start for the club, but he still wasn’t afraid to let his new team-mates know if they weren’t showing for the ball.
He was constantly directing the play and pulling people into position to make sure that City couldn’t dominate possession in the areas they like.
When Oleksandr Zinchenko went wandering into midfield, it was Jorginho who instinctively dropped back to cover.
A crucial interception followed by an immaculate pass to set Eddie Nketiah in on goal had even the most sceptical of Arsenal fans applauding.
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But his goal-line clearance to deny Manuel Akanji with the scores level at 1-1 was all in vain when City struck twice late on to settle this pulsating thriller.
And while Arteta will know that too many of his players flattered to deceive last night, at least he doesn’t have to risk rushing Partey back from injury like he has done in the past. More